Eliminating the Competition
by FateChica
Summary: Sailor Moon/Ronin Warriors Crossover; Scouts and Warriors are in college and Ami and Rowen, who can't stand each other, are competing for first in the class and refuse to be civil to each other...that is until Serena and the others devise a plan to change
1. Eliminating the Competition Chapter 1

Ami's face contorted into a mask of anger as her foot slammed down on the gas pedal, making her small blue convertible go even faster. Her hands gripped the steering wheel. She was so mad she could rip the steering wheel out of the car and throw it out the window. Needless to say, 19-year old Ami Mizuno was pissed off.   
  
How dare he tie with me? ME! Ami Mizuno, the smartest student in school? Being the top of the class has been the only thing that was exclusively mine and mine alone. It is my defining characteristic, my privilege, and my right. Oh, he will pay. That...that...blue-haired punk! Ami thought as she drove home. There was one and only person she could be thinking about: Rowen Hashiba.   
  
The incredibly smart, snobbish, 19-year old...asshole who's now tied for top of the class with me. The blue-haired punk with the outlandish attitude and...the most gorgeous blue eyes on the face of the planet...no, Ami, bad Ami. Rowen is bad. He is the enemy.   
  
"If I could, I'd freeze him using my Aqua Rhapsody," Ami said, a small evil smile appearing on her face at the thought of her freezing Rowen using her Scout powers. She shook her head to clear out that fantasy, as much as she wanted to go through with it.   
  
No, I can't do that. That would be abusing my powers. I wouldn't mind doing it though, Ami thought with an evil laugh. Ami slowed the car down as she neared her house. She pulled into the driveway and rushed out of the car, grabbing her purse and slamming her car door shut. She wished she'd never even left the house that night.   
  
At Serena's insistence, Ami had gone back to Tokyo University to find out where she stood in the class. Obviously, Rowen had the same plan and both were unpleasantly surprised to find the other one at the dean's office.   
  
Both of them were favorites with the dean and for 6 months, the two college freshmen had been competing intellectually, trying to best each other. Well, as it turned out, neither had won, despite the countless extra credit assignments they had done for all of their classes, which they both had the same schedule.   
  
Fishing through her purse for her keys, she pulled them out and unlocked the door. Waiting for her behind the door were all of her fellow Sailor Scouts: Serena, Raye, Lita, Mina, Alex, Michelle, and Celia, all waiting to congratulate her on being the top of the class. Serena rushed forward and gave Ami a hug.   
  
"Congratulations Ami on being top of the class!" Serena said. Ami pushed Serena away, still very pissed off at that moment.  
  
"Actually, I only tied for top of the class." Ami had never seen so many astonished faces in one place.   
  
"What do you mean tied?" Mina asked.  
  
"I mean I tied. I didn't get it. Someone else has the same GPA and percentage as I do."  
  
"Who? Who is it? I'll crush his bones into flour," Lita said.  
  
"Yeah, I'll help," Alex said. They had asked who he was and Ami was going to tell them.   
Through gritted teeth, Ami said, "His name is Rowen Hashiba. He's in all of my classes and he is the most annoying, arrogant, egotistical, brown-nosing, snobbish...blue-haired punk who deserves to burn in the fiery pits of hell!" Raye and Serena gave each other a look. Out of the whole group, they had known Ami the longest.   
  
"Blue-haired?" Raye and Serena chimed. Everyone knew that Ami never got this outraged unless something had really got to her and guys never got to her unless she really, really liked them. Serena crossed her arms in front of her chest and, while feeling sorry for her friend, couldn't keep in the words that came out of her mouth.   
  
"I think our Ami's in love," Serena said in a taunting tone of voice. At that remark, Ami dropped her purse on the ground and looked Serena in the eye.   
  
"I am not and will never be in love with that jerk. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some studying to do." Ami pushed past Serena and Raye and stormed upstairs. The last thing the Scouts heard from Ami was the slamming of her door being shut. Mina only shook her head.   
"Yep," Mina said, "She's definitely gone for this guy."  
  
***  
"That bitch!" Rowen yelled, slamming his fists down on the dining room table. Surrounding him were all of his friends: Ryo, Sage, Kento, Cye, and Mia. Rowen had gone to find out where he stood in his class only to learn that he had tied with Ami Mizuno, his now sworn enemy. Sure, when he first met her, he thought she was cute, but now, it was all different. Now, they were bitter enemies.   
  
Rowen had come home extremely pissed off. He was just about ready to go into one of his moods and sulk all night when Cye, being the sensitive person that he is, picked up that something was bothering him.   
  
He pulled Rowen into the dining room and sat him down, where everyone else was getting ready for dinner. He asked Rowen what was wrong and everyone else settled down to listen. Rowen, who couldn't keep it in any more, exploded, yelling about Ami.   
  
"Who's a bitch?" Sage asked.  
  
"Ami, that prissy slut who thinks she's so great. She thinks that she can just waltz in here and automatically be top of the class. Well, she has another thing coming." Mia looked very thoughtful.   
  
"Ami Mizuno?" she asked Rowen.  
  
"Yeah, how did you know?" Rowen asked bitterly.  
  
"Well, when we moved to Tokyo 7 months ago, I was looking for a doctor and I got her mother. Her mother is my doctor. She talks about Ami all the time. From what I understand, Ami has lived in Tokyo her whole life and didn't have many friends until she reached 8th grade. She has been the top of her class since the 4th grade. So, she's probably as mad about this as you are. You too are used to being the top of the class," Mia said with a smirk on her face.  
  
"Well, so what if she never had any friends or she's been top of the class since the 4th grade," Rowen said, "She's still not going to win this time."  
  
"Well, among her friends are Alexandra Ten'ou, the famous race car driver and the expert pianist who plays with Michelle Kaiou, the expert violinist and famous artist, also one of Ami's friends, and Celia Meiou, the famous fashion designer," Mia said. All the guys were astounded. This girl knew three of the most famous people ever?   
  
Rowen was not amused.   
  
"Well, so what if she had friends who are world famous. That doesn't change anything."  
  
"Well, Rowen, from what I hear, Ami is not the type of person you need to be messing with. I've met her and all of her friends when they stopped by the hospital to visit Ami's mother. They're a team, I know it. The way they hold themselves is almost scary it's so together. And she has this one friend, Lita Kino, who looks like she could hit you into the next century," Mia continued. Rowen only growled.   
  
So she's perfect. Has the perfect future, has the perfect friends. I'll show her. I'll show that stubborn, arrogant bitch...who is positively the most beautiful girl I've ever met...no, bad Rowen, bad. Stop thinking about her like that. She's not who you need to be falling in love with right now. Right now, you need to be studying so you can beat her at her own game. I'll show her that you can't always be first in everything.   
  
Snapping out of his thoughts, Rowen said, "I'm going upstairs, I need to study." With that, Rowen stormed out of the room and made a beeline for his bedroom, slamming his door shut. The sound resonated throughout the house and the other Ronin Warriors cringed as they heard the slam.   
  
"Wow, Rowen must really be in love with her," Cye said.  
  
"What do you mean? He hates her!" Kento said.  
  
"Kento, if Rowen didn't like her so much, he wouldn't make it into such a big deal, now would he?"  
  
"I don't suppose so," Kento said. Cye only smiled.   
  
"Yeah, he's definitely head over heels for her," Cye said, thinking about his friend's reaction to something as simple as grades.   
  
***  
A few days later, Ami was sitting in a café, sipping a cup of tea.   
  
Oh, I've studied so hard in the last three days that my brain hurts. But, if I end up beating Rowen, it's all worth it. Let's just hope I don't kill my brain in the process. She noticed that the area she was sitting in was starting to get a little crowded.   
  
Not wanting to deal with the noise of people, she picked up her cup of tea and her purse, stood, and began to walk to a less crowded part of the café. She was searching for a table to sit at when she felt something ram into her. In her shock, her cup of tea slipped from her fingers and ended up on the floor, tea pooling on the ground, mixing with what looked like coffee.   
  
"Oh my god, please, let me help you. I'm so sorry," a male voice said. Ami turned to look and saw a boy about her age with auburn colored hair. Ami grabbed a large pile of napkins and knelt down on the ground, beginning to wipe up the mess. The boy did the same and together, they managed to wipe up the coffee and tea. They both stood up right and looked at each other.   
  
"Oh, I'm so sorry," he said in one of the most beautiful English accents she had ever heard.  
  
"It's alright," Ami said.  
  
"No, let me make it up to you. Let me buy you another cup of tea. Please? I'll feel really bad if you don't let me." Ami looked at the sincere look on his face.   
  
"Ok," she said, "You can buy me another cup of tea."  
  
"Great, wait here while I get your tea and two more cups of coffee."  
  
"No, I'll go help you. I don't think that you can carry three cups at the same time," Ami said. The boy smiled at her.  
  
"Thanks," he said. They walked over to the counter, where Ami bought her tea and the boy bought two cups of coffee.   
  
"Would you like to join me and my friend?" Ami looked at him again and decided that it couldn't hurt to make more friends.   
  
"Yeah, I'd like that." Ami followed him to a table in the back of the café where she saw a boy with blond hair sitting, waiting impatiently.   
  
"I was wondering when you were going to get back, Cye. What took you so long?" He wasn't annoyed, just curious.   
  
"Sorry Sage. I ran into this girl and ended up spilling coffee everywhere. I had to pay for more."   
  
Cye turned to Ami as they sat down and said, "This is my friend Sage Date and my name is Cye Mouri."   
  
Ami smiled at him and said, "Well, it's nice to meet you both. My name is Ami Mizuno." Sage, who was taking a sip of his coffee, nearly choked when she said her name. He started to cough as the coffee went down too fast and Cye, who had the same surprised expression, pat Sage on the back.   
  
"Hey Sage, you ok?"  
  
"Yeah, just went down to fast." Turning to Ami, Sage said, "So, you're Ami Mizuno. I hear you're Tokyo's resident genius." Ami turned several shades of red.   
  
"No, really, I'm not that smart." Sage's eyebrows shot up with surprise.   
  
Rowen was wrong, Sage thought; She doesn't think she's that great at all. In fact, I think she thinks the opposite. But, Ami stilled smiled all the same.   
  
"Thanks for the compliment though." Cye couldn't believe what he was seeing.   
  
So, this is the girl that has Rowen going crazy, huh? Well, they look like they belong together. I mean, come on. The blue hair is the first giveaway. She's also really nice. Rowen has it all wrong.   
  
"So, you go to Tokyo University, right?" Cye asked.  
  
"Yeah, how did you know?" Ami asked.  
  
"I've seen you around campus before," Cye said.  
  
"Oh, so you go there too," Ami said.  
  
"Yeah, we both do," Sage said.   
  
"Well, that's too bad that I haven't seen you around campus before. Maybe I should lift my head out of my books every now and then to look around. Maybe I'll catch one of you next time I'm on campus," Ami said with a smile.   
  
"Ami, what are you doing here?" Ami looked away from Cye and Sage to see Alex and Michelle approaching you.  
  
"Oh, hi Alex. Hi Michelle. I was just here, drinking some tea, when I ran into two people I go to school with. I'd like you to meet Sage and Cye."  
  
"It's nice to meet you," Michelle said, bowing her head, "I'm Michelle and this is Alex."   
  
"Michelle?" Cye asked, "You mean like Michelle Kaiou?" Michelle nodded. "I have one of your paintings in my bedroom. I must say that you do fantastic work," Cye said, continuing.  
  
"Why, thank you," Michelle said.  
  
"If you think her paintings are good," Ami said, "Then you have to hear the two of them play together sometime when they next perform. They are really good." Alex blushed an unusual shade of red.   
  
"Aw, come on Ami, stop embarrassing us." Michelle only laughed at Alex's red expression and kissed her cheek.   
  
"Alex, honey, you need to learn to not quite be so embarrassed when you're complimented." Ami was used to the displays of affection between Michelle and Alex, but it turns out the guys didn't know.   
  
"You mean...you two are..." Cye said, spluttering. Michelle caught on quick and saved Cye from further embarrassment.   
  
"Yes, the two of us are involved, if that's what you're wondering. Just don't go telling anyone, ok?" Michelle said with a wink.  
  
"Oh, we promise, we won't. Right Sage?" Cye asked his friend.  
  
"Of course. We won't." Ami took a sip of her tea after smiling and then looked down at her watch.   
  
"Well, I hate to be the killjoy, but I have to go meet two of my friends," she told Cye and Sage.  
  
"Who?" Alex asked.  
  
"I'm meeting Raye and Mina. I'm supposed to tutor them in world history." Rising, she picked up her purse and looked down at Cye and Sage. "Well, it was nice meeting you," Ami said before rushing off. Alex only sighed and shook her head.   
  
"What's wrong?" Sage asked the famous racecar driver.  
  
"Ami. She's just too giving."  
  
"And that's a bad thing?" Cye said.  
  
"It is when she doesn't have anything to call her own. With her smarts, she keeps giving those to other people by trying to help them. What she needs is something that she can call her own. She used to have that when she was top of the class, but that was taken away from her. It hit her really hard."  
  
"Why?" Sage asked, wanting to know more about Ami.  
  
"Well," Michelle said, "Ami's father left her and her mother when she was a little girl and her own mother was always too busy to spend time with her daughter. Her intelligence was all she had for many years until she met Serena, who's now one of her best friends. But, still, Ami feels at times that the only thing she can do is study."  
  
"What she needs is someone in her life who can show her how to live. She needs someone to love her," Alex said. Cye raised an eyebrow and smiled. He knew just the person.  
  
***  
Later that day, Cye and Sage were walking into the house, still talking about Ami.   
  
"I don't see what his problem is. She's a really nice girl," Cye said.  
  
"Who's a really nice girl?" Rowen asked, walking out of the kitchen with a glass of water.   
Not able to keep his mouth shut, Sage blurted out, "Ami." Rowen's face froze. Were they crazy?   
  
"Are you crazy?" he asked them, "She is not nice. She's a brat."  
  
"Rowen, you don't even know her," Cye said, thinking about what Alex and Michelle had told them about Ami's past. He was getting a little annoyed with Rowen's closed-minded, bratty attitude.  
  
"You're right and I don't want to know her. I'll only find out how much of a bitch she is. Excuse me," Rowen said, going back upstairs and closing his door. Cye and Sage exchanged looks.   
  
"We really need to hook those two up," Sage said.  
  
"Agreed," Cye said. 


	2. Eliminating the Competition Chapter 2

The next day, Rowen was on campus, sitting outside the rare February sun.   
  
You know, for February, it's actually very nice outside. Rowen knew that spring was coming; he could feel it. He looked at the sky once more before turning back to his book on organic chemistry. It was one of his hardest classes and he was determined to do better in it than Ami. He crossed his legs, resting the book on his lap, and propped up his head with his hands, resting his elbows on his knees as he read.   
  
At the same time, Serena, Mina, Lita, and Raye were looking for Ami.   
  
"She said she was going to meet us here! I wonder where she could be?" Mina asked. Serena's eyes scanned the crowd, looking for Ami's familiar mop of blue hair.   
  
Thinking she had found it, she said, "Hey I found...no wait, that's not her. That's just some guy with blue hair." Suddenly, the light went on in the attic.   
  
"Wait," Serena said, turning to Raye, "Could that be Rowen?"  
  
"Serena, how many blue-haired geniuses do you think are on this campus?" Raye said, a little annoyed. Serena only smiled.   
  
"Ok," she said, "I'll be right back." Serena jauntily walked over to where Rowen was and tapped him on the shoulder. Rowen turned to see who had tapped him, a little peeved that someone had interrupted his studying.   
  
"Yes?" he asked.  
  
"Are you Rowen Hashiba?" Serena asked. Rowen stared at the blonde in confusion. "Yes," he said slowly.  
  
"Oh, thank you. That's all I wanted to know," she chirped before going back to her friends. Rowen watched her go and shook his head.   
  
"Weird girl," he muttered before going back to his reading. He only got about three more pages of reading done when someone called out his name.   
  
"Hey, Rowen!" He turned to see the other Ronin Warriors, approaching him.   
  
"What?" he asked.  
  
"Are you ready to go home?" Ryo asked.  
  
"Yeah, I suppose so. Just let me get my stuff together, alright?" Rowen put his organic chemistry book in his book bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Ok, we can go now." The 5 boys walked away in silence.   
  
Rowen's gaze moved all over the place and his body froze when, over the hedge of a bush, he saw a familiar head of blue hair.   
  
"You guys, wait, I think I see Ami. And she's hiding in the bushes. I wonder..." Rowen said, walking over to the bushes and hiding behind them, looking over the edge.   
  
"Rowen, what you are doing is spying," Cye said, "Why?"  
  
"I want to see if she has any secrets that make her so smart. Maybe she cheats. I wanna know." The other guys joined him in spying, all of them scared at his behavior (AN: Ami was right about outlandish, ne?). But, in fact, she wasn't studying. Actually, she looked like she was meditating, which was half right.   
  
Ami was sitting on the ground, in a meditating position, with her transformation pen in front of her, the one that would allow her to transform into Super Sailor Mercury (AN: you know, the one with the wings on the top? Oh, never mind.). For weeks, Ami had been trying to use her power to enhance her mind, making it stronger. She wanted it to be strong enough so she could lift her transformation pen using her mind.   
  
Her eyes were squeezed shut as she concentrated her power. Slowly, but surely, the guys watched as her transformation pen floated up off the ground, finally hovering in front of her face. The guys were amazed and baffled. Ami, on the other hand, figured she failed again and opened her eyes, only to see her transformation pen in her face. A huge smile spread over her lips.   
  
"I did it? I did it!" she exclaimed, yelling it out loud. "Ha, a victory for the warrior of ice," she muttered, pulling out her computer from her sub-dimensional pocket, analyzing the situation in front of her.   
  
The guys wanted to know how that computer came out of nowhere. She didn't have her purse or her book bag with her and she didn't have any pockets on her clothes. They heard Ami mumbling as she used her computer. "...Power...keeping it in the air...strengthening my mind..." Ami shut her computer and put both her computer and transformation pen back in her sub-dimensional pocket. She hugged her knees close to her chest and smiled again.   
"Finally, after months of work, I did it. This is one big step for me."  
  
"Ami, there you are!" Lita exclaimed, "What are you doing back here?" Ami jumped about 5 feet into the air and turned around to see Lita; Kento, on the other hand, had his jaw drop to the ground.   
  
"Guess what, Lita," Ami said.  
  
"You built a house on Mercury?" Lita said, making a random guess.  
  
"No, though I wish I could, but that's not it."   
  
Ami was about to continue with what she was saying when she heard Mina call out, "Have you found her yet?"  
  
"Yeah, she's over here and she has something to tell us," Lita yelled. A few moments later, Raye, Mina, and Serena had approached them. Cye and Sage were staring at Mina and Raye, respectively.   
  
"What do you have to tell us, Ami?" Serena asked. Rowen recognized her as the girl who had asked him if he was Rowen Hashiba. Ami pulled her transformation pen out of her sub-dimensional pocket and held it in her flattened palm.   
  
"Watch," she commanded the other Sailor Scouts. They watched expediently as Ami closed her eyes. Within seconds, Ami's transformation pen was floating about 6 inches above her hand. Ami opened her eyes and let out a breathless smile.   
  
"See what I did?" Ami said, raising her hand to grab her transformation pen out of the air and put it away.   
  
"How did you do that?" Raye asked.   
  
Ami huddled the Scouts in real close and whispered, "I used my Mercury power to make my mind stronger so that it could make my transformation pen float." The girls only smiled. The guys, on the other hand, really wished that they could hear what Ami said; they really wanted to know.   
  
"Wow, Ames, congratulations. I think we need to celebrate with ice cream, don't you think?" Serena asked.  
  
"There you go again, Serena, always thinking with your stomach," Lita said.  
  
"Well, I can't help it. I'm a growing girl."  
  
"Serena, you stopped growing a few years ago," Ami said, "I think the last time I measured you to check for growth was after Queen Nephrenia and that was two and a half years ago."  
  
"Ok, so that was a lame excuse," Serena said, trying to avoid memories of the battle with Nephrenia, "Anyway, I'm hungry and I want ice cream. So, let's go get some, huh?"  
  
"Alright, we'll placate your stomach and get ice cream, alright?" Raye said.  
  
"Ooh, goody," Serena said as they walked off. Once they were out of hearing range, the guys finally spoke.   
  
"Did anyone understand half of what they were talking about?" Ryo asked.  
  
"Nope, not a thing," Sage said, "And is Queen Nephrenia? What country does she rule?"  
  
"I have no clue. I've never heard of her," Cye said. There was a silence and then a stomach grumbled.   
  
Rowen rolled his eyes and said, "Kento."  
  
"Well, they were talking about ice cream and I got hungry. Can we go get food, too?"  
  
"Yeah, sure, let's go," Ryo said. As they walked away from campus, the guys were chatting about what food to get. Rowen, on the other hand, had spaced out.   
  
How did she make that thing float? Ooh, no fair. Just because she has some kind of wacky power does NOT make her better than me. If I could, I'd use my Arrow Shockwave on her and blast her into oblivion. Suddenly, Rowen wasn't very hungry anymore.  
  
***  
"How did Serena get conned into coming here?" Raye said as she, Ami, Mina, and Lita searched through the natural science museum for Serena.   
  
"Easy," Lita said, "She was asked by Darien and promised food afterwards if she went." Ami laughed.  
  
"Yeah, that would do it," Ami said as they walked through a display on rocks and gems. Ami was drowning in information. She absolutely loved it here.   
  
I should come here more often. She was busy with looking at a display of precious gemstones when she heard Mina's voice.   
  
"Hey, isn't that Rowen, Ami?" Ami's body stiffened as she turned to look in the direction that Mina was looking. Her eyes narrowing, she saw Rowen with three other guys, two of them she could identify, one she couldn't. She gasped in anger.   
  
"Sage and Cye never told me they were friends with Rowen. Hmph," she said, turning away, looking at the next display on semiprecious gems. She temporarily forgot about Rowen until she heard his annoying voice.   
  
"Well, well, if it isn't Ami Mizuno." She turned and gave Rowen her sweetest smile. She was determined not be bothered and angered by him.   
  
"Rowen Hashiba," she stated.  
  
"I never figured you the type to come here. I thought you already knew everything," he said snidely.  
  
"I could say the same thing about you," she said with a hint of annoyance in her voice. Giving him one more dazzling smile, she said, "I'll see you later." She pivoted on her heel and walked out of the room where the rocks and gems were. The other girls and guys were surprised at the chemistry between Ami and Rowen. There was so much of it.   
  
The girls threw apologetic looks at the guys before following Ami. When they found her, they found her staring at the ceiling in surprise. The room they were in was only one room away from the display with the rocks and gems.   
  
When the girls tilted their heads to see what Ami was looking at, they sighed in amazement. Above them was a perfect model of the solar system, each planet crafted to perfection.   
  
"Wow," Lita said, " I almost feel as if I'm looking at the actual solar system."  
  
"Yeah, makes you kinda homesick, doesn't?" Mina said.  
  
"You said it," Raye said.  
  
"Isn't it beautiful?" Ami asked. Raye was about to respond to what Ami said when she felt something.   
  
"You guys, I feel something."  
  
"Something evil?" Mina asked. Raye nodded. Ami pulled out her computer and began scanning the room. Her computer beeped when it rested on the model of the sun.   
  
"It's coming from the sun!" she exclaimed, "Wait, that sounded funny." Before anyone else could comment, a figure starting pushing its way out of the model of the sun. A face appeared and the girls backed up a few steps.   
  
The figure laughed and suddenly, the model of the sun exploded in a flash of bright light. The Sailor Scouts shielded their eyes from the light and when it was safe to look, the Scouts looked at the monster that had come out from the sun model. It had the figure of a human being, but it was made entirely out of flames.   
  
It looked down at the Scouts and, without warning as always, opened its mouth and a stream of fire came out, hurling towards the Scouts. They screamed and dodged, barely escaping getting singed.   
  
Raye, who figured they needed enough time to transform, pulled out an anti-evil charm and said, "Evil spirit, disperse!" The anti-evil charm hit the monster. It froze in place and Raye yelled, "Ok guys, it's time to transform!"  
  
"Right!" the others said.  
  
"Mercury Crystal Power..."  
  
"Jupiter Crystal Power..."  
  
"Mars Crystal Power..."  
  
"Venus Crystal Power..."  
  
"MAKE UP!" they all cried together as their transformations began. Within moments, the Super Sailor Scouts stood there, ready to fight.   
  
Sailor Jupiter had had about enough of the monster. All she wanted to do was find Serena and go home. Concentration her powers, she yelled, "JUPITER OAK EVOLUTION!" The monster, hit hard with Jupiter's power, faltered.   
  
At that moment, the guys decided to walk into the room. They had hear the screams of girls and, figuring it was Ami and her friends, who had left just moments before, rushed to help them. Instead of seeing the four girls, they found 4 Sailor Scouts.   
  
They watched, transfixed, as Sailor Jupiter sent out one of her attacks. Sailor Venus was next, her long blonde hair almost being singed by a fire ring sent out by the monster.   
"VENUS LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!" she cried, hitting the monster with what looked like a heart, but it was hard to tell it was moving so fast. The monster, who was floating in the air, lowered a few inches, Venus' attack weakening it.   
  
Enraged now, it set out a fire spiral that hit Venus and Jupiter, knocking them to the ground. Raye watched as two of her best friends hit the ground. Seeing red, literally, Raye yelled out, "You wanna play with fire? Well, play with this."   
  
Taking a deep breath, Raye shouted, "MARS FLAME SNIPER!" sending a fire arrow towards the monster. The monster reflected the attack and sent a shockwave towards Raye, who flew backwards and landed on the guys.   
  
Ami first instinct was to go to Raye, but she knew that Raye could take care of herself. Instead, she concentrated on dodging attacks from the monster. She jumped into the air and landed on a model of the planet Saturn.   
  
Alright, this is the time when I should use my new powers, Ami thought. Closing her eyes, she focused her mind and used her power to enhance her mind. Opening her eyes, Ami looked at the monster and focused her mind in the movements of the monster, willing it to cease all movement.   
  
Almost immediately, the monster, who was moving towards Ami, froze in mid-air. Ami smiled triumphantly, still perched on Saturn. Now comes the hard part. Keeping that thing frozen with my mind and then using my power on it. Still concentrated on keeping the monster frozen, Ami cried out her attack.   
  
"MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!" Swirls of ice surrounded the fire monster, freezing it immediately. Ami watched with satisfaction as the monster disappeared, leaving only the model of the sun in its wake.   
  
The model of the sun fell to the ground and Ami, who was weakened from holding the monster in place and using her attack at the same time, felt faint and toppled off the model of the planet she was standing on. Lita, who had gotten up a few minutes before, rushed over and caught Ami right before she hit the ground. She slowly set Ami on her feet, who looked like she was going to fall over any second.   
  
"Woo, I feel a little dizzy," Ami said.  
  
"Well, that's because you used too much power at once, you silly. You over taxed your power and your brain, little miss genius," Lita said.  
  
"Ooh, shut up." Ami and Lita spotted Raye, who was surrounded by the guys and Mina, trying to wake her up. Ami rushed over to her, getting over her dizziness quickly and scanned her with her computer.   
  
"Is she going to be all right?" Cye asked.  
  
"She'll be fine, she just needs to wake up, that's all." Ami put away her computer and turned to look at Lita.   
  
"Hey, Jupiter, do you mind giving Mars a little shock with your power. That should wake her up."  
  
"Sure thing," Lita said. Laying a hand on Raye's shoulder, Lita let forth a little of her lightning power to shock Raye enough to wake her up. As expected, Raye's eyes shot open and she looked up at the 7 people looking down at her with worry.   
  
"Sailor Mars, are you ok?" Mina asked.  
  
"Oh yeah, Venus, I'm just fine," Raye said sarcastically. Turning serious, she said, "Did we kill him?"  
  
"Yeah, Mercury took care of it," Lita said. Raye turned to Ami and said, "Good for you."  
  
"Well, it wasn't really that good," Ami said.  
  
"Are you kidding? She used her mind to freeze that bastard in the air," Lita said.  
  
"Yeah, then she used her Aqua Rhapsody on it. It was great," Mina finished.   
  
Ami, who was desperately trying to find a way to deter the topic, said, "Come on you guys, we should be getting home. Mars is still a little tired and I'm exhausted from using my power." Mina looked up at Ami, her eyes looking a little guilty and sheepish.   
  
"Sorry Mercury. We'll go home." With Raye's arm around Mina's shoulder and Ami's arm around Lita's shoulder, the Sailor Scouts hurried out of the museum, all thoughts of finding Serena to hang out with her forgotten. The guys stared in wonder.   
  
"I wonder where Ami and her friends disappeared off to," Cye said.  
  
"Well, hopefully, Ami was blasted to outer space by that monster," Rowen said.  
  
"Aw, come on Rowen, you don't mean that. Don't tell me that you didn't worry about her when you heard those screams," Sage said at a flustered Rowen.  
  
"I was not worried about her. I was worried about the others," Rowen said.  
  
"Who were those girls who killed the monster?" Kento asked.  
  
"I think those were 4 of the Sailor Scouts," Cye said, "I know there's Sailor Moon and there's rumors about Sailors Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus."  
  
"So there's eight of them?" Sage asked.  
  
"I think so," Cye said.  
  
"Wow. Wonder if we'll ever become allied with them," Rowen said.  
  
"Oh, you never know," Cye said cryptically, "But, anyway, I want to go see the aquarium while we're here. Let's go." The others only groaned.  
  
***  
"Ok, that's it. I've had enough of his attitude," Cye said, practically yelling.   
  
The Ronin Warriors, minus Rowen, were sitting at a table at a local restaurant. Rowen had been with them, but left early, saying that he needed to study. And Cye had had enough and the others agreed with him.   
  
It had been two months since the beginning of the second semester and still, the only thing that the guys heard from Rowen was his complaining about Ami and how much he hated her. To the other guys, he was taking the whole thing too hard to not be in love with her.   
  
"We need to find Ami's friends and come up with a plan to set them up," Sage said. Ryo looked past Sage's shoulder at the group of four girls walking towards them.   
  
"Actually, Sage, we don't have to search very hard. Ami's friends are on their way over here as we speak." Serena, Raye, Lita, and Mina approached their table and Serena said,   
"Hi, my name is Serena. Um, you guys are Rowen's friends, right?"  
  
"Yeah," Ryo said, "And you're Ami's friends." Serena nodded and Ryo continued, "So, what brings you to our table?"  
  
"Well, we needed to talk to you. As all of us have seen, Rowen and Ami really like each other, but are masking it with hatred of the other," Raye said.  
  
"We have a plan," Lita said, "To get those two together."  
  
"But we can't do it without your help," Mina finished.  
  
"Sure, we'll help," Cye said.  
  
"What's your plan?" Ryo asked. The girls only smiled.  



	3. Eliminating the Competition Chapter 3

The next day, or rather late afternoon, Rowen was driving in his dark blue jeep. He was returning home from the school library, getting more books to study with so he could best Ami. He slowed his car down as he pulled it into the huge driveway of the house he shared with his friends.   
  
Picking up his bookbag, he got out of the car and walked up the walkway. He knew that if he studied hard enough that he could beat her. He just had to keep at it. Pulling his keys out of his pocket, he unlocked the door and stepped over the threshold. Immediately, he felt that something was very off. The house was way too quiet. Placing his bookbag on the ground, he looked around the house.   
  
"Hello? Anyone home?" Suddenly, Rowen was jumped from behind and he could feel a cloth being put over his mouth. Struggling against the person holding him, Rowen could recognize the smell coming from the cloth as chloroform before he passed out.  
  
***  
At about the same time, Ami was returning home from the public library. She had belonged to that library ever since she was a little girl and relied on it much more than the library that was at school, which was much smaller than the public library.   
  
She parked her car in her spot in the driveway and pulled her heavy bookbag out of the passenger seat. She walked to the front door and opened it, not surprised to find it unlocked.   
  
"Hey, I'm home!" she yelled to the house. No one answered. Setting her bag by the stairs, she ventured into the living room. Not paying attention to what was going on behind her, Ami was not expecting the person from behind her that jumped her.   
  
Ami felt a cloth being put over her mouth and had one thought: I recognize that smell. That's chloroform. Ami blacked out, her body going limp, and the person behind her, still holding onto her, smiled.  
  
***  
The next morning, Ami woke up feeling very warm and safe. Her eyes still closed, she cherished the warm feeling that surrounded her. She felt like she was home. She felt the arms around her waist pulling her closer and she snuggled into the embrace of the person holding her.   
  
Suddenly, her eyes snapped open. Something is very wrong, she thought.   
  
At the same time, Rowen woke up to the feeling of a warm body in his arms. Not fully awake, he smiled and pulled the body closer to him, feeling the person move closer also. Then, a feeling hit Rowen and his eyes also snapped open.   
  
Something is very wrong. At the same time, Ami tilted her head up as Rowen bent his head down and they looked into each other's eyes. Time seemed to freeze as they looked at each other in shock.   
  
Then, they screamed.   
  
Rowen, in an attempt to get away from Ami, pushed away from her, unaware that he was on the edge of the cot that the two of them were on. He fell off the cot and hit the floor, taking Ami with him. Then, the two of them felt something cool on their wrist.   
  
Rowen held up his left hand as Ami held up her right to show a pair of handcuffs with a two-foot chain connecting them. They looked at each other and screamed again.  
  
***  
"Do you have a three?"  
"Nope, Go Fish." On the floor in one of the hallways of the Scouts' house, Raye and Sage sat in front of the basement door playing Go Fish while guarding the door to the basement, where Ami and Rowen were. Raye moved in to pick up a card from the pile after Sage told her that he didn't have a three when she heard two voices scream.   
  
"Ah," Raye said, "They must be awake," she said with humor in her voice. She picked up a card and put it in her hand. Moments later, they heard another scream.   
  
"And now, they've noticed the handcuffs," Sage said. He looked up at Raye and smiled mischievously at her, who smiled right back. Following the second scream came the sounds of yelling.   
  
"Do you think this will work?" Sage asked.  
  
"Oh, I know it will work," Raye said, "This whole deal with Rowen had Ami all worked up. Too worked up and I know that things like this don't usually affect Ami. In fact, she usually likes the challenge. But, this time it's different. She wouldn't act like she hates him if she really didn't like him and was just in denial. Ami was almost trained to reject all emotion and love just knocks her senseless.   
  
"But, when she thinks that love could hurt her and drag her down, I think that love could be the thing that would set Ami free." Raye stopped talking and Sage looked on in awe; she really knew what she was talking about. Then, Raye continued. "Besides, those two would look so cute together."  
  
"Tell me about it," Sage said. Raye opened her mouth to give reasons why she thought Ami and Rowen would look cute together when her communicator went off. Both of them were startled by the noise and Sage looked at the communicator skeptically.   
  
"What's that?" he asked.  
  
"Oh, just an alarm that tells me it's time to take my vitamins so I don't forget. I'll be right back," Raye said, coming up with what she thought was a plausible cover story. Walking into the kitchen, she turned on her communicator.   
  
"Mars here."   
  
"Raye, we really need you and all the help we can get." Raye looked on in worry as Mina's face appeared in the screen of the communicator.  
  
"What's wrong?" Raye asked.  
  
"Well, a monster has attacked at the park and it's a strong one. We'd ask Ami to help us, but she's handcuffed to Rowen and Serena has the key. Somewhere."  
  
"Oh boy. Those two are going to be handcuffed together forever if Serena has the keys. But, I'll be down there right away, ok?"  
  
"Great." Mina cut off the communication and Raye closed her communicator.   
  
Sighing, she rushed back out to where Sage was and said, "I'm sorry, but I have to go do something. An errand that I forgot to do yesterday. It's kind of an emergency. I'll be right back. Can you guard those two and make sure that they don't kill each other?"  
  
"Yeah, sure. What's wrong?" Sage asked.  
  
"Oh, um, it's nothing. I'll be back." Without giving Sage a chance to ask any more questions, Raye ran out of the house, grabbing her transformation pen. Making sure she was a good distance away from the house, she ducked behind some bushes and called out, "MARS CRYSTAL POWER!" Jumping out of the bushes, Raye took off in a run towards the park.  
  
***  
Back at the Scouts' house Sage was gathering up the cards from his game of Go Fish with Raye. He had put the cards in the box when he heard someone burst through the door.   
"Sage?" the voice called out.  
  
"Yeah, Ryo?"  
  
"We need you." Sage walked out towards the front of the house to find Ryo in his sub-armor.   
"What's wrong?"  
  
"There's a monster attacking the docks. The others are there. I was sent to get you. Come on, we have to hurry."  
  
"But..." Sage said, pointing in the direction of the basement door.  
  
"Sage, they won't kill each other and if Rowen wasn't handcuffed to Ami, I would ask for his help to. Now, get armed and let's go." Sage nodded and called out, "Armor of Halo!" and suddenly, his sub-armor appeared in a flash of light.   
  
"Ok," Ryo said, "Let's go kick some monster butt." Sage only smiled at him before running out of the front door, leaving Ami and Rowen alone in the basement. Needless to say, it wasn't the best judgment call to leave those two alone for too long together.  
  
***  
"This is all your fault!"  
  
"My fault? Do you think I want to be handcuffed to a harpy like you?"  
  
"Me? A harpy? You shouldn't be calling me names, Mr. I-feel-being-an-asshole-to-everyone-I-know."  
  
"Look, I am not an asshole. All I know is that I'm stuck down in a basement, handcuffed to you, and you're sitting here accusing me of something I didn't even do. I mean, I wonder why I even liked you in the first place. When I met you, I thought you were cute, but I guess I was wrong." Ami crossed her arms over her chest and looked away from Rowen.   
  
"Well, you know, if you hadn't stolen the title of first in the class from me, we wouldn't be in this situation."  
  
"I never stole it from you. You stole it from me!" Rowen exclaimed.  
  
"Did not!"  
  
"Did too."  
  
"Not!"  
  
"Too!"  
  
"Not!"  
  
"Too!" Ami threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "You know what, we're not getting anywhere arguing like this. Can we come to at least a temporary truce until we can get these handcuffs off?" Rowen looked at Ami, who was looking at him with a hopeful, yet angry look on her face.   
  
You know what, she looks kinda cute...no, those are not thoughts to be thinking when I'm handcuffed to her. Rowen nodded slightly.  
  
"Alright, but only until we get these handcuffs off. After that, the truce is called off, got it?"  
  
"Got it." Ami stuck out her right hand and grabbed Rowen's right hand, shaking it slightly. The action surprised both of them. Ami didn't know why she did it and Rowen was just as surprised.   
  
Their eyes locked and both of them could feel electric sparks running up their arms, starting from the spot where their hands were joined. Ami quickly released his hand and worked furiously to suppress the blush that threatened to spread over her face.   
  
"Ok," she said quickly, "If we want to get these handcuffs off, then we're going to have to try a few different things. My first idea is to try a saw and saw our way through these handcuffs."  
  
"That's actually a pretty good idea," Rowen admitted, "Do you have a saw?"  
  
"Not that I know of," Ami said, "Which means that we're going to have to go to the hardware store to get it. Come on, let's go going." Ami and Rowen stood up off of the ground that they were sitting on and walked over to the stairs, ascending them. Ami was ahead of Rowen and she opened the door to find herself looking at her own house.   
  
"Oh, we're at my house. So, my car should be here." She dragged Rowen to the front door, which was wide open. "Hmm, wonder why it's wide open...oh, never mind." She looked out the front door to see her blue convertible sitting in the driveway.   
  
"Good, there's my car. Now, we just need keys and we'll be on our way to getting these handcuffs off." Still dragging Rowen behind, she walked into the living room and proceeded to look for her purse, which had her keys in them.   
  
"Hey," Rowen said, "Could you be a little gentler? I'm still connected to you here and your dragging me around like an old doll. I don't appreciate it."  
  
"Sorry," Ami said absently. Not seeing her purse anywhere in the living room, she went to the next possible place: her bedroom. Walking up the stairs, with Rowen behind her, she entered her bedroom and started looking around for her purse.   
  
As Ami searched through her bedroom, Rowen looked around, his complaining ceasing.   
  
Hmm, she has a nice room. It's a room that fits Ami very well. Rowen was talking about the very organized room. Everything had a place in Ami's room. There was a light blue rug in the middle of the floor and her bed was covered in blue blankets. He looked around her room, Ami still dragging him around.   
  
As she was looking around her desk, Rowen took the time to look at a picture that was placed on her desk. He leaned over and picked it up, holding it in his right hand. His brow furrowing in confusion, he studied the picture of the Sailor Scouts, all eight of them.   
"Wow, I didn't know that there were eight Sailor Scouts," Rowen exclaimed.  
  
"Actually, there's nine. Saturn is missing from that picture," Ami said absently, thinking of Sailor Saturn, who turned into Mistress 9, but was saved by Serena. Now, little Heather was about 12 years old, having grown physically so fast.   
  
"How do you know there's nine?" Rowen asked. Ami turned to face Rowen, her eyes wide.   
  
Oops, I spilled something. No one except for the other Scouts knows about Saturn. How do I explain this? Come on, Ami, think.   
  
"Well, um, I happened to be at a battle once upon a time and I saw Sailor Saturn. Just once though."  
  
"Oh, cool. So, where did you get this picture?"  
  
"After another battle, where they saved my life, I asked to take a picture of them and they said yes."   
  
I remember when Darien took this picture. It was right after the battle with Galaxia and we all wanted to have a picture to remember that victory by. Ami closely inspected the picture and she could notice the fatigue lines on all of their faces.  
  
"Well, that's interesting. You've met the Scouts too. I met them a couple of months ago at the natural science museum after we ran into each other." Ami raised an eyebrow and looked him with a small smirk on her face. She also remembered that day.  
  
"Oh, really? And which scout is your favorite?"   
  
Rowen thought about it for a moment and then said, "I think my favorite out of the four that I saw and maybe out of all of them is Sailor Mercury. I don't know why, though. She just is."   
  
Ami felt her heart skip a beat at hearing that she was his favorite Scout, even though he didn't know she was Sailor Mercury.   
  
Why do I feel so lightheaded and giddy all of the sudden? Ami shook her head and smiled.   
  
"That's nice," she said before turning back to her desk to find her keys. Ok, I know I left my purse downstairs yesterday before I was knocked out. Where did it go? She sifted through one of her desk drawers until she found her purse.   
  
"Ah-ha! Found it!" she exclaimed as Rowen set down the picture back onto the desk. She walked out of her room, with Rowen following closely behind.   
  
You know, even though the chain connecting me and Ami is two feet long, it's not long enough to walk with, Rowen thought as they walked down the stairs and out the front door. They stood in front of Ami's small blue convertible (with the word "Mercury" on the license plate, but Rowen didn't notice that) as Ami dug through her purse, looking for her keys.   
"Ooh, there they are." Ami pulled the keys out of her purse and walked over to the right side of the car, where the driver's side was (AN: they are in Japan, you know.). Suddenly, it hit Ami.   
  
Turning to Rowen, she growled, "You're going to have to drive my car."  
  
"Why?" Rowen asked.  
  
"Well, my right hand is handcuffed to your left hand. The only way I'd be able to drive my car while handcuffed to you is if I sat on your lap and that wouldn't work because then I couldn't reach the pedals. You're going to have to drive us to the hardware store." A gleeful smile stole over Rowen's face as Ami held out the keys for Rowen to take.   
  
As he snatched them from her hand, Ami said, "If you wreck my car, you're paying the bill for whatever happens to it." Rowen's smile turned cocky.  
  
"Don't worry, I won't wreck your precious car. Don't you trust me?"  
  
"No," Ami said simply as Rowen got into the car. She sighed at his stupidity when he said,   
"Get in the car."  
  
"Rowen, you have to get out so I can get in. I don't fancy climbing over you and if I did, then the chain would get in the way and get all tangled." (AN: I can just see it, Ami trying to climb over Rowen to get to the other seat and ends up falling into his lap...::sigh::)  
  
"Oh," Rowen said as he got out of the car so Ami could get in. Once she was seated in the passenger's seat, Rowen climbed into the driver's seat. They put their seat belts on with some difficulty; each of them reached for their seatbelt with the hand that was handcuffed.   
Finally getting their seatbelts on, Rowen started the car and pulled out of the driveway.  



	4. Eliminating the Competition Chapter 4 (e...

"I can't believe that we can't saw through this chain," Rowen said as the two of them sat on a park bench, both of them wearing rather depressed looks on their faces.  
  
"Yeah, tell me about it," Ami said, agreeing with Rowen for one of the first times. Ami's eyes scanned the park, her eyes briefly passing over her car, which was parked by a curb. Her eyes continued to look over the park, many memories coming back to her.   
  
I've had so many battles in this park. Her eyes fell on the small gazebo where Serena almost died from having her energy sucked from her body and Darien, who had broken up with Serena, kissed her to wake her up, just like in the fairy tales.   
  
I wish I had someone to do that to me. I may not show it, but I'm actually really jealous of Serena and her relationship with Darien sometimes. Ami looked down at the chain connecting her to Rowen, who's head was buried in his hands.   
  
She looked at the chain and prayed silently that Rowen wouldn't lift his head out of his hands. Reaching into her sub-dimensional pocket, she pulled out her computer and silently and quickly, scanned the chain that connected her to her archenemy.   
  
"Shit!" she exclaimed as she put her computer away. "What?" Rowen asked, lifting his head out of his hands.   
  
"I figured out what this chain is made out of. It's made out of titanium, that's why we couldn't saw through it."   
  
"How do you know what it's made of?" Ami sighed in annoyance.  
  
"Think about it Rowen, it's the only thing it could be made of. The only chance we have to get this off is to either melt it or freeze it." An idea struck Ami.   
  
Oh, wait, I can't do that. I can't freeze the chain using my power. Then Rowen would know my secret identity and I can't tell anyone about that. Oh shit. Forget that idea. As she was thinking about the situation she was in, she tried to think about someone who could help her get out of it.   
  
Who could I go to with this impossible situation? Hmm... Ami thought about it for a little bit longer before it hit her.   
  
I could go to Andrew! He's really good at pulling himself out of sticky situations. I mean, come on, he's best friends with Serena and Darien and probably slipped up before they got together.   
  
"I got it!" Ami said.  
  
"What do you have?" Rowen said.  
  
"I know who we can to go to get help. Come on, let's go." She stood up and dragged Rowen across the park, him yelling behind her all the way.  
  
***  
"What do you mean you don't know what to do?" Ami exclaimed.   
  
If I have to stay handcuffed to Rowen any longer, I think I just might kill him. He's always shooting some sarcastic remark back at me and I've had enough of it.   
  
"I'm sorry Ami, but I don't know what do tell you. I mean, I can probably guess who did this to you and your friend," Andrew said.  
  
"He's not my friend," Ami said through gritted teeth.  
  
"I'd have to agree with her on that one," Rowen said.  
  
"Well, whatever. But, I'm betting that Serena did this to you. This has Serena's name written all over it."   
  
"Which means I'm doomed," Ami said.  
  
"Why do you say that?" Rowen asked. He really didn't know Serena at all. Andrew and Ami shared a look.  
  
"Well, if this is all Serena's idea, then that means that she's probably the one in charge of the keys for the handcuffs. Which means we're doomed. Serena has never been able to hold on to a key to save her life," Ami said.  
  
"Oh, great," Rowen said, "So I'm stuck with you?"  
  
"Well, it's not like I'm happy about it!" Ami exclaimed, "I mean, all you do is complain about how much this sucks and how my ideas are never going to work."  
  
"Well, what about you? You've been nagging me all morning about this situation." As Ami and Rowen fought in front of Andrew, a smile spread over his face.   
  
Oh, this reminds me of Serena and Darien when they first met, always fighting with each other. They ended up getting together in the end, like I knew they would eventually. Maybe it's going to be the same thing with these two.   
  
The argument was rudely interrupted when the three of them heard a scream coming from the street. The three rushed outside and all gasped. There were two huge monsters terrorizing the streets. They looked like dinosaurs and they were smashing everything that got in their path.   
  
I wonder where the other Scouts are? I mean, I'd transform to fight with them, but I don't want to give my identity away to Rowen. Ami's hand itched to reach into her sub-dimensional pocked to get her transformation pen, but she rejected that impulse. Andrew had long run off in fear when Ami and Rowen rushed back into the arcade, each of them wanting to transform to fight, but neither of them wanting to tell the other about their secret identity.   
  
"Rowen, get back into the arcade," Ami said as she dragged Rowen behind her, who was running as well.  
  
"No need to tell me twice!" he exclaimed. Ami led him into the back room and remembered something else as Rowen closed the door.   
  
"No, Rowen don't close the..." She stopped and sighed in defeat as she heard the door click shut. "...door," she finished. Her blood boiling in frustration at being handcuffed to Rowen all morning and to not being able to fight the monster, she exploded.   
  
"Now look what you've done, you idiot!"  
  
"What did I do?" Rowen said, yelling back at Ami.  
  
"You locked us in this room. It automatically locks when shut and it unlocks from the outside. So, now we're stuck in here until we can get someone to get us out."  
  
"Well, it's not my fault. You never told me that it would lock and I never knew. You don't have to be so hard on me because I didn't know that. I've never been here before, you obviously have."  
  
"If you had listened to me, this wouldn't have happened," Ami yelled.  
  
"Well, I was a little busy trying to get away from those monsters, if you didn't notice."   
This is it, the truce is off, Ami thought.   
  
"You know, you really are stupid, did you know that?"  
  
"I am not stupid," Rowen said, taking a step closer to Ami, getting in her face.  
  
"Oh yeah? Do you have proof to show me otherwise? Because everything I've seen from you has been pure stupidity." Ami said, getting closer as well. Their faces were not 5 centimeters apart as they glared at each other. At any moment, the tension between them was going to explode into something that neither of them was prepared for.   
  
But, it never got that far.   
  
Before something could happen, the door burst open, flying off of its hinges and landing on the ground by their feet. Ami and Rowen turned and looked wide eyed as one of the monsters they saw outside on the street stood in the doorway, looking at them like they were dinner.   
"Uh-oh," Rowen said as Ami picked up a crate and threw it at the monster. It hit the monster in the face, which only made it mad. Once it had shaken its head to clear the pain, it held out its right hand. Ami watched as light gathered into the palm of the monster's hand.   
  
"Rowen, get down," she said pulling him down to the ground. The two of them narrowly missed getting hit. Then, the two of them stood up, fire in their eyes, ready to kick some butt. They both had the same thought.   
  
I don't care if s/he finds out about my identity. It's better than dying. At the same time, both of the warriors, who were rather pissed off, called out their transformation line, each of them oblivious to the person next to them; they were too absorbed in their own transformations.   
  
"Mercury Crystal Power, MAKE UP!!"  
  
"Armor of Strata, DAO INOCHI!" Seconds later, Ami stood there as Super Sailor Mercury and Rowen stood there in his armor. They both turned to the other one, ready to explain what had happened to them.   
  
Their eyes focused on each other and their eyes widened in surprise. For a moment, they thought that the other one had disappeared, but then, they looked down at the handcuffs that connected them and they figured it out.   
  
"You're Sailor Mercury," Rowen exclaimed.  
  
"And what are you?" Ami asked.  
  
"I'm a Ronin Warrior."  
  
"A what? Never mind, let's concentrate on killing this monster." They turned and prepared to fight the monster, who was powering up. In order to confuse it, Ami cried out, "MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!" and a fog spread over the room and the rest of the arcade.   
  
Turning to Rowen, she asked, "Do you have any cool powers?"  
  
"Yeah, but if I used them here, I might destroy half of the city block."  
  
"Well, is there anything else you can do?" Ami asked, panicking a little.  
  
"I can shoot arrows at it."  
  
"Well, when the fog fades slightly, do that." Rowen nodded and waited as Ami took out her computer and scanned the monster.  
  
"Its weak points are its eyes. Aim for the eyes."  
  
"Wow, what is that thing?" he asked, indicating her computer.  
  
"It's my computer. I'll explain afterwards, but we have to kill this thing." As the fog faded, the monster charged and Ami cried out, "SHINE AQUA ILLUSION!" A stream of ice water hit the lower half of the monster, freezing it in place. Rowen looked on in amazement.   
  
She looked so beautiful doing that attack. Rowen was beginning to accept the fact that he didn't hate her as much as he used to.   
  
I have to admit, she's really not that bad when she's not mad at me. Ami turned to Rowen and said, "Fire your arrows." Rowen did as he was told and fired two arrows, aimed at the thing's eyes. Each arrow buried itself in the eyes of the creature and it screamed. Ami scanned the monster again with her computer and was happy to find that its energy level had gone down.   
  
"Good, now I can kill it." Ami sucked in a deep breath and called out, "MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!" The monster, which was half frozen, died on impact and disappeared. Ami sighed exhaustedly, and let the slight fatigue take over her body.   
  
Noticing that she was tired, Rowen said, "Are you ok?"  
  
"Yeah, I just used three attacks in less than 5 minutes, though. I'll be ok in a few minutes." Ami detransformed and Rowen did the same, each of them in their regular clothes again. A nervous silence spread over to the two teenagers (they are 19, still teenagers) and Ami was the first to break it.   
  
"Come on, let's get out of here." Rowen's only response was that he started to walk out of the backroom of the arcade with Ami following close behind.   
  
***  
"So..." Ami trailed off as the two of them sat on the same park bench that they had sat on earlier.  
  
"Yeah," Rowen said, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. Ami was sitting up straight, her legs crossed and her hands in her lap. For the first time, the two of them were experiencing a silent moment. No insults, no words.   
  
Ami took a sideways glance at Rowen before looking away quickly, a pale blush spreading over her face.   
  
He really is very good-looking, gorgeous even. And when he's not fighting with me, he's actually pretty nice. But, after the way I've treated him, I'm surprised if he even wants to speak with me again. Little did she know that Rowen was thinking the same thing.   
  
They looked at each other, their eyes locking, before they burst out into roaring laughter. Rowen clutched his sides in laughter as Ami tried to wipe tears from her eyes.   
  
"What a day, huh?" Rowen asked.  
  
"You said it," Ami said, "Yesterday, I never figured that I'd wind up being handcuffed to you and having you find out about my 'extra-curricular' activities."  
  
"Yeah, I know. I mean, come on, yesterday, we hated each other. But, now..." Rowen said, trailing off.  
  
"Now what?" Ami asked, putting her hand on Rowen's shoulder. He looked up at her and sat up straight, his eyes never leaving her. Ami's own eyes went wide as she tried to identify the look in his eyes.   
  
Well, one thing's for sure, no one has ever looked at me like this before, Ami thought. Rowen's free hand came up to caress Ami's cheek softly and Ami gasped at the feeling. Slowly, Rowen leaned in towards Ami. Ami felt their noses brush and right when their lips were millimeters apart, Rowen stopped.   
  
"You're ok with this, right?"   
  
Ami only smirked and said, "You're going to kiss me, aren't you?" Rowen nodded and Ami continued. "Well, if you don't kiss me now, I'm going to have to hurt you." Rowen chuckled lightly before closing the gap between their lips.   
  
Ami felt her stomach doing flips inside of her and she reveled in the feeling. They kissed slowly, yet passionately and neither of them wanted the feeling to end. Ami tried putting her arms around Rowen's neck and Rowen tried wrapping his arms around her waist, but the handcuffs prevented them from doing anything of the kind. They broke apart and look down at the handcuffs.   
  
"What are we going to do about these things?" Rowen said.   
  
Ami looked down at the handcuffs with a calculating gaze before saying, "Hold still." Putting her free hand over the cuff on Rowen's wrist, she poured her power out of her hand. Slowly, Rowen saw the cuff around his wrist freeze over before breaking off.   
  
Ami did the same for the cuff around her wrist and said, "Strong chain, cheap lock." As Ami set the handcuffs down on the bench, Rowen pulled Ami onto his lap and kissed her neck. Ami giggled before turning back to Rowen, kissing him square on the lips.   
  
***  
"MOON GORGEOUS MEDITATION!" Serena smiled in satisfaction as the monster disappeared. She turned back to the three other Scouts and the four armored warriors that helped out her and the Scouts.   
  
"Thank you for your help," Serena said to the four armored warriors as the other scouts went over to stand with Serena.   
  
"Well, we must be going now. Good-bye." Serena and the other Sailor Scouts took off for home, moving as fast as they could by using their power. Each of them was anxious to get home to see if Rowen and Ami had killed each other by now. As they reached their house, they stopped running and detransformed before continuing their trek home.   
  
"So, what do you think has happened to them?" Lita asked.  
  
"Well, they probably haven't killed each other," Raye said, "I left Sage there to guard them to make sure that they don't inflict any bodily harm to each other."  
  
"Do you think that they've hooked up?" Mina said.  
  
"Mina, I think it's a little early to be making that assumption," Serena said as their house came into view. They walked up the driveway only to spot that the front door was wide open and Ami's car was missing. Their faces took on confused looks as they rushed up the walkway and into the house.   
  
Serena was the first one to reach the basement door, which was also wide open. Serena rushed down the stairs and looked around, not spotting the two blue-haired teenagers anywhere.   
  
She walked back up the stairs and said, "They're not here."  
  
"I wonder where Sage is? I left him here earlier," Raye said.  
  
"What happened?" a male voice said. The four girls turned to the see Ryo, Kento, Sage, and Cye, who had also detransformed before heading on over, standing in front of them.  
  
"Ami and Rowen are gone," Mina said.  
  
"Yeah, because SOMEONE wasn't here to guard them," Raye said pointedly at Sage.  
  
"Hey, it's not my fault. I had an emergency to take care of," Sage said.  
  
"Oh yeah, what emergency?" Raye asked.  
  
"I'll only tell you what it was if you tell me what your emergency was," Sage demanded.   
Raye just sighed and said, "Ok, fine, don't tell me."  
  
"And stop arguing, we have to find them. What if something happened to them? Or the handcuffs?" Serena asked, "I spent a pretty penny on those handcuffs just for this project. We have to go and find them. Let's just hope that they aren't too mad at us, assuming that they've figured out it was us who did it."  
  
"Oh, Serena, this little scam has your name written all over it," Mina said, "Ami's going to have figured it out by now that it was you who handcuffed her to Rowen. And she's either going to thank you or kill you, depending in her mood and the state of her relationship with Rowen at the moment. But, we have to look for them now." The eight teenagers walked out of the door and began searching for their two friends.   
  
They made their way to the park where they found Ami's car, but not Ami and Rowen.   
  
"I wonder where they are," Serena said to the group.   
  
"Oh, look," Lita said, "There's the arcade, maybe they went there." The group went over to the arcade and entered the building, only to find it completely devoid of other people and in a state of destruction.   
  
"What happened here?" Mina asked.  
  
"Looked something came along a trashed the place," Kento said.  
  
"Yeah, but what?" Lita asked as the girls followed a path of destruction to the backroom. When they saw the state of the back room, they gasped. There was stuff strewn about and the door had been thrown off of its hinges.   
  
"Oh my god, Andrew's not going to be very happy when he finds out what happened," Raye said as Serena looked around the room.   
  
"Hey guys, look what I found," Serena said picking up a gold arrow off the ground. "I wonder where this came from," Serena said as the guys appeared in the doorway.   
  
"Hey guys, look at this," Serena said as she showed the arrow to the guys. The guys exchanged looks. They recognized that arrow; it was one of Rowen's arrows. Sage was about to say something about the arrow when he too spotted something.   
  
"Hey, look, there's ice surrounding the doorway. Where'd that come from?" Now it was the girls' turn to exchange looks. The only person that they knew who could create ice like that was Ami, which meant she had to have been here.   
  
Well, wherever they are now, it's not here, Serena thought.   
  
"Come on, you guys, let's keep looking," she said as she walked out of the backroom. The group made their way into the park and searched for the two geniuses. Cye was the first to spot them and when he did, his jaw dropped. He stopped walking and stared.   
  
Kento noticed that his best friend had stopped walking and he turned around and said, "Hey, Cye buddy, what's wrong?" He followed Cye's gaze and also stopped in amazement. The others all did the same thing at the sight in front of them.   
  
In front of them were Ami and Rowen, sitting on a park bench, making out. Ami, who was sitting in Rowen's lap, giggled as Rowen nibbled on her earlobe before kissing her again on the lips.   
  
The group of eight just stared at the kissing couple. They just thought that by handcuffing them together, it would get them to resolve their differences. They never imagined that they'd be kissing like crazy.   
  
Mina was the first one to snap out of it.   
  
She said, "I figured that something like this would happen." Serena was the next one to shake herself out of her daze.   
  
The minute that she believed that what she was seeing in front of her was true, she said, "Ami?" Ami and Rowen's bodies froze. Ami recognized the voice and was slightly annoyed that she was being interrupted. Slowly breaking away from Rowen, she turned towards Serena and slowly said, "Yes?"  
  
"What are you doing?" Serena repeated.  
  
"What does it look like?" Ami asked in response. Before Serena could say anything more, Ami reached behind her and picked up a pair of handcuffs, the cuffs frozen and covered in ice.   
"Serena, the next time that you feel you need to handcuff the two of us together," Ami said, "You might want to consider buy handcuffs that won't freeze off when I use my power." Rowen only nodded.  
  
"Yeah, it didn't take much energy on her part to freeze those handcuffs off. Like she said, strong chain, cheap lock." The girls looked at Ami in shock. She had told him about her power?   
  
"Ami, you didn't..." Serena said. Ami knew what she was talking about.   
  
"Serena, you don't have to worry, I had to. There was an emergency at the arcade. A monster attacked when we were locked in the backroom. I took care of it," Ami said. Rowen looked at her with his eyes wide.   
  
"Excuse me, you wouldn't have been able to take care of it if I hadn't weakened it for you."  
  
"Yeah, well, I was the one who told you how to weaken it. Without me, you wouldn't have known where to shoot."   
  
"I could have figured it out. Eventually, I would have led it outside where I could show it real power," Rowen said.  
  
"Oh, so I don't have real power?" Ami asked, joking around with Rowen; she knew he didn't really mean it and that he was just teasing her.  
  
"I'll admit that your power is pretty impressive, but you haven't seen anything until you've seen me."  
  
"Oh really?" Ami said.  
  
"Really," Rowen said. Ami laughed lightly before giving Rowen a quick kiss. The other Scouts and Ronin Warriors were confused. The guys wanted to know that Ami was talking about and the girls wanted to know what Rowen was talking about.   
  
"What's going on?" Kento asked Ami. Ami looked at Rowen and said, "Do you think we should tell each other's friends about our secret?"  
  
"Yeah, I don't see why not," Rowen said. Giving each other a small smile, Ami and Rowen stood up and called out their transformation lines.   
  
"Mercury Crystal Power, MAKE UP!"  
  
"Armor of Strata, DAO INOCHI!" In seconds, Ami stood there as Super Sailor Mercury and Rowen stood there in his armor. The guys and girls each figured it out quickly and turned to the other group.   
  
"You!" they each cried out at each other as their brains processed everything. The guys figured out quickly that it was the girls who were the Sailor Scouts and the girls figured out quickly that it was the guys who were the Ronin Warriors.   
  
Ami and Rowen only stood by, smiling, as they watched their friends stand by in amazement. Rowen detransformed into his sub-armor and wrapped his arms around Ami's waist. Giving her a kiss on the neck, he said, "I think they're a little shocked."  
  
"Well, may I remind you, that we were when we both transformed and found a warrior instead of a human being on the other end of those handcuffs." Rowen let go of Ami's waist as both of them detransformed.   
  
Ami turned around and said, "Should we leave them to talk things over?"  
  
"Yeah, we should," Rowen said, "Let's get out of here."  
  
"Ok, then give me my keys back," Ami said, holding out her hand. Rowen took her keys out of his pocket and handed them to her. Ami smiled at him and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards her car.   
  
"So, where do we go?" Ami asked Rowen as they got into her car.  
  
"Oh, I don't know. How about we go and get something to eat. I'll pay as part of an apology for being so mean to you in the beginning of the school year."  
  
"Alright, but next time, I'll pay. I have to apologize too, you know," Ami said as she started her car. She gave Rowen one last smile before driving off, leaving their friends to figure out things for themselves.  



End file.
